Quarter horses have always made jumpers and yes there are some purpose bred for it today. However, Quarter Horses are now no longer one specific type, really. A performance bred quarter horse can make a terrific jumper, and a typical utility western horse is a very versatile horse. Back in the day I won a lot of ribbons on Quarter Horses and as one of the capable lesson kids I often was handed an older short term sales horse as a project, to see if we could get them going around courses with a kid. However, Quarter Horses that are specifically bred for and successful at for example halter or western pleasure in today’s show ring probably cannot enjoy a career switch to a jumping discipline.
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My appendix QH was my very competitive 4’ jumper. He also did well in the hunters, struggled to make the step sometimes but was so dead consistent.
His conformation required an early retirement at 13.
Yes, it can be done. But I’d look for something already doing a little more than cross rails.
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This. I’ve met warmbloods with big name jumper stallion sires who can’t effectively jump 2 feet. They go do dressage and are great at it.
People would be surprised by the number of QH’s or ‘traditional stock breeds’ that are competing (and winning) at big venues. It’s just not advertised.
I also have a hard time believing that there are many QH’s out there who would have unsoundness issues from jumping what is really a low height.
Do you guys know what they do with QH’s?
Barrel racing, cutting, reining, etc. all of those sports are much more demanding than us jumping around a course a few times a week. Those horses are bred to be powerhouses.
Are there some QH’s out there with really poor conformation? Yeah. But there are also warmbloods with poor conformation. And Arabians. And drafts. Judging a whole breed on one poorly conformed individual is like saying all Dutch Warmbloods must have horrid conformation because of this one
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Regular racing too. I’ve been involved with many OTQHs. Excellent horses in general and every bit as capable as an OTTB to do a hunter job imo.
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Just because I got a notification about it, and I feel like arguing on the internet today lol.
I stand by my first point. So many horse people are pearl clutching, unicorn dreaming, head in the cloud romantics - just because any horse can do anything does not mean it’s a good idea. Could a western trained QH go beat the pants off of any of [top name]'s hunters? Sure. Is it likely? Not in the slightest.
The OP is looking for something with experience on a budget that isn’t sufficient. Round peg. Square hole. There is a HUGE difference in crossrails and a full 2’6’’ course. There is a HUGE difference in teaching one to do it and “I’m looking for something that has been there done that and is older” and “it’s only ever done crossrails”.
I love me some stock breeds. They are my entire barn. But just for anyone reading - this is the AQHA World Champion Hunter Under Saddle from this year. Sara showed the horse really well and it’s an amazing horse. https://youtu.be/en7IhT8pHGI?t=15 But that’s the canter these horses are trained to have on the flat, as an english horse.
If you take it and look at the winner in the western classes, here’s the 2021 world champion in the pleasure: https://youtu.be/zwiqFIdQZ0A?t=45 The mare is PHENOMENAL and oozes talent. But if you spend 15 years training for that, and then go ask it to jump a 2’6’’ course in stride with a novice? That’s not fair.
Additionally, if it’s worth it’s salt - western horses tend to be trained with a spur stop. At the lope, inside leg is your brake, outside leg is somewhat your throttle, lots of rate is done through the seat. It’s totally different from how most english riders are taught.
If I was the OP, or OP’s trainer, I would very much try to find something more suitable for my kid. If budget is low, maybe try a breed like an OTTB - where you at least wouldn’t have SUCH an uphill battle.
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In respect to the original question, I read it like can an AVERAGE western trained horse be trained to jump. And by “western trained” I did not read it to mean a horse that is showing western pleasure at AQHA or similar breed shows, more like a horse that neck reins and wears a western saddle. I don’t think the OP even mentioned a QH (or any breed) specficially.
I’m guessing that no one on a normal human’s budget is going to be buying a World Champion level trained Western Pleasure horse.
I also do not anticipate that anyone on a budget would be hoping that said western trained horse would ultimately be competive at WEF or similar.
I might expect that someone who is on a budget and in an area where western-trained horses are abundant would be looking for something that would be competent and safe for local shows. I think that is possible.
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I disagree with most of the previous posters in some form or fashion. I grew in a family that bred Quarter Horses for many generations. Mostly working ranch horses, but also racehorses and show horses. My first 15 or so horses were QH. There is a tremendous amount of diversity in the breed and they are and remain incredibly popular because of their brains.
The short answer to your question is a resounding YES. I did this MANY times. Hell, my now 28yo QH (grandson of Doc Bar out of a running bred mare) went to the World Championships in reining when he was 5 and ended his career as a foxhunter easily jumping 2’6" coops and galloping with the thoroughbreds.
The long answer is, it depends. You want a horse that is not downhill and has good feet and legs. A well trained horse is a well trained horse. If the horse you like has been taught the ugly western pleasure canter, that is going to take some work to improve for over fences work. Same or the jog. Same for the “headset” QH ppl like on their flat show horses. You just have to realize going in that taking a trained, but not English trained, horse to a new discipline may not happen on YOUR timetable. It may take a year or two. It may take a few months. You just have to be OK with that. And a horse crazy kid is most likely going to be perfectly happy to do the work, I know I sure was.
Of course this will go better if either you have a well trained eye for jumping conformation, or you are utilizing the help of a trainer who has that. I hope you find a fun diamond in the rough and post an update!
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Have you seen what is winning in the QH halter ring?
https://www.aqha.com/-/top-5-halter-sires-of-2020
There’s no hind leg angles there - on the 5 top stallions! - that would let a horse coil. Like I’m surprised some of these horses can trot and if you watch them on video some of them can’t really.
Fortunately, as you say, the majority of Quarter Horses are not like this. Quarter Horses are awesome and I’m always suspicious that those “warmbloods of unrecorded breeding” are actually Quarter Horses. 
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That’s the horse I had growing up. 15.3 hands, fairly level 13-year old QH gelding who was “western”. Heck, he hadn’t even been ridden in over a year at that point either. But had a great brain and decent build. We sent him to a trainer for a month for a a refresher and he was golden.
“Western” meaning he wasn’t really a show western horse, but more all around type who was used to western tack as the predominate discipline in the area.
Good brain meant he’d try for me which is all my young mind and body needed for confidence. Never a dirty stop or scoot or spook. Occasionally a slow stop or run out but nothing that would unseat or intimidate.
Played with dressage and hunters mostly. He did fine in the local shows that were full of a lot of other QH-types, OTTBs, and only a handful of warmbloods.
My only concern would be (other than each horse is different) his age. I think we stopped jumping my guy around 16-17 to keep him sound. Depending on what your idea of maintenance is, that could be extended–my mom wasn’t about to pay for joint injections or anything like that. 
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Most halter horses aren’t even trained to be ridden. A horse going in western tack is unlikely to be a true halter bred horse, those bloodlines tend to stay in the halter ring. What @StormyDay stated is most likely true.
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We bred, raised, trained and raced many TB’s and AQHA’s.
Once off the track, we would ride them some more and sell them, both breeds, to ranchers most, the suitable ones for hunters we had a standing order from a trainer in the East that sold them as fox hunting horses.
We even heard thru our name being in the registration papers and so the new owners finding who bred them and calling us, how happy they were and they would ask if we had some more like them.
Not sure if any of those made it to the show ring, but many were fine jumpers, either breed.
Many “grade” horses out there are horses from registered parents, some registered themselves, that someone along the way didn’t care for the papers and so now were grade, when obviously you could tell they were nicely bred.
The OP needs to look at each individual horse, best to go by what is in front of them, if looking at horses needing retraining, without a record of already being good at what she needs.
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‘Western trained’ horses have and do go and win at top competition. As I said, we don’t parade around the arena with signs saying ‘my horse is a quarter horse’. They don’t announce ‘Rider X on a Quarter Horse’ when we enter the ring. I personally have beat very very expensive imported warmbloods on my ‘unicorn dreaming’ APHA, which is essentially a QH with spots. I’ve trained clients QH horses who have won at AA shows in the 2’6”. It’s really not uncommon. We just don’t go around advertising it.
Yeah, the cues are different in western vs English. As someone who has taught many western horses to be ridden English, it takes about 5 rides and they understand the English cues just fine. I actually love taking WP horses and training them for hunters because they usually end up having truly a show stopping canter that is perfect for anyone who is a little nervous. Their canter is usually extremely rhythmic, easy to sit, and reliable.
A western trained QH is much less work to get jumping than an OTTB. Way, way less work. I’ve done both.
I own, train, and show stock breeds. In hunters and jumpers. Many of my clients own stock breeds and compete in hunters and jumpers. To this day, I have not encountered a QH or APHA that couldn’t do either hunters or jumpers.
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This is exactly my reiner trained QH mare. She does doesn’t get it and she doesn’t care to learn. Nine times out of ten, she will trip over a pole with her front feet and come right down on it with one of her back feet. I’m a novice rider and I don’t really care - it would have been nice to graduate to cross rails and maybe even small verticals, but I’m in my 50’s and she’s perfect in every other way.
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Agreed on the papers part. It’s amazing how many people own some sort of ‘warmblood cross’ or something and it is a QH. 
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Looking at this thread, there are 2 questions.
General: can a Western trained horse switch to jumpers and/or hunters? Yes it’s quite possible.
Specifuc: is this particular horse a good prospect to switch from Western to hunters or jumpers and is there time to make that switch before he ages out and how much pro trainer help will you need to get him there? We need to see videos of horse cantering to even think about thus question.
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Bottom line… having a horse be a career-changer at age 15 at any breed is going to be a challenge. Can it be done? Sure. Can I go back at school in my mid-40’s/early 50’s (which is where I consider a horse of that age) and crush it at a new job? Of course. But being successful or proficient at it requires a certain level of talent or ability and without knowing the horse, it’s hard to guess whether it needs maintenance, retraining, or if it’s even kid-friendly now or will be in a new discipline. Plus, we have no idea if it’s a daisy-cutter or a sewing machine in terms of movement… so let’s not forget that part of the hunters is also how it’s going to do in the hack. Too many what ifs and it’s a crapshoot.
Lots of great discussion on here but I thought I’d share my 2 cents as I’ve done pretty much exactly what the OP is asking and it’s worked out really well.
This has been covered, but the first and most important point IMO is that not all western horses are created equal! Calling a horse a “Western” horse is just about as specific as calling any of our horses “English” horses. Do you mean dressage, eventing, hunter, jumper, or breed show HUS? A “Western” trained horse can mean so many things. Has the horse been trained in reining, barrel racing, ranch work, or western pleasure? It sounds like the horse OP is describing is an all-rounder type. Which is a good thing in this scenario.
My fiance and I learned this the hard way last year. We were looking for a horse that he could do low level eventing with and also historical re-enacting. That’s not a typical combination so we knew we were going to have to train one or the other, especially in our budget. We decided on finding a western trained horse that had talent for jumping, since we figured it’d be easier to teach a bombproof horse how to jump vs teaching a jumping horse how to handle gunfire. I’ve trained horses to jump but never to handle a simulated battle scenario!
We found a couple really cute gaming horses that were being ridden successfully by a little kid, couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7. His feet barely reached the stirrups. The videos showed two horses that were super chill and respectful of kiddo riding them doing all sorts of ridiculous things. Perfect, I thought. If they can be ridden by a small child surely my fiance and I will have no trouble at all. Spoiler alert: we did have trouble.
We met the owner at a local barrel race to try the horses. The kid hopped on and rode both horses around the trailers (no warm up ring). Lots of crazyness going on and the horses were totally chill. So I hopped on. With me aboard, both horses had three speeds: stop, jig, and fast trot. I could barely get them to steer to get back to the trailer 
They had been trained too much as barrel/gaming horses and we couldn’t communicate effectively at all. I’m sure with more time we could have worked through it, but we weren’t really keen on buying a horse I couldn’t get to walk or canter!
Compare that to some of the other horses we tried that were trained as all-around horses (or had not much training in general) and the communication was much easier. I rode one mare who had never seen English tack and was able to get her to WTC each direction with ease.
The horse we ended up buying sounds like the one you found but a couple years younger at 13. He’d done a bit of everything but never specialized in one Western discipline. Ranch work, gymkhana, carried the flag at rodeos, he even packed elk on a hunting trip a few times. He’d been ridden in English tack and hopped over small downed trees in the field but that was about it.
It’s been a challenge to teach him how to use his body correctly, and he’s not a push button ride over fences. He’s probably never going to be competitive in the hunter ring or get fantastic dressage scores. Will he ever jump more than 2’3-2’6"? Probably not, nor would we ask him to. It wouldn’t be fair to ask him to be something he’s not. But he has been nothing but honest and game to try anything we ask of him.
FTR, even though he’s not a push button ride my coach LOVES to teach beginner xc lessons on him because he’s so willing. Even though he’s relatively green he will jump anything you point him at and has given several nervous riders a great amount of confidence on xc. (riders who, btw, lost their confidence riding older “push button” jumping horses that had bad behaviors related to soundness issues)
That being said, I don’t think this would have worked out with only my fiance riding his horse. I’m a more experienced rider than him and have done most of the jumping riding until recently, helping horse to use his body correctly over fences, maintaining pace and straightness before and after the fence, etc. Lots of lessons where we exclusively focused on helping the horse and not the rider. If you daughter is new to jumping and needs to work on her basics, I can’t say I would recommend this without having another experienced rider to help teach the horse, and access to another horse for your daughter to ride where she can focus on herself. Even if that’s an occasional lesson on a schoolie over smaller fences.
Sorry for the novel but this has been a really interesting topic for me to read. I think everyone has some valid points. This horse probably isn’t going to win at A shows (ours certainly wouldn’t!). We can’t tell if he’ll make the strides, win the hack, master flying changes, etc. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to pop around a 2’6" course at a schooling show with his girl and give her a ton of confidence with his been there done that attitude.
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Pretty late on this but, IMO, the fact horse turns 16 in 3 weeks is a much bigger issue then whats on his papers…he does have AQHA papers, right? If you have not seen the actual papers, he might be older and this happens ALL the time, including to me. Twice. Make sure to see those papers BEFORE negotiating any type of lease or purchase if seller represents they exist, they prove age and identity. IME, its 50/50 seller actually can produce them despite pricing and advertising it is a registered animal. They seem to get “ lost” or former owner still has them after you sign the check alot. Beware. Nothing wrong with an experienced horse of unknown age or parentage. This horse is totally unproven at 2’6”.
Each year after about 13 means higher insurance costs and more limitations, once they hit 17 some underwriters wont write the MM policy, you often can get surgical only with a low, lifetime cap for reasonable reasons based in statistics. BTDT too.
Any horse can jump 2’6”, even in Western tack as they do in Trail Classes. Its the 8 fences at a specific measured distance with two changes of direction and width added that us the difficult part. Since OPs DD has no experience showing a 2’6” Hunter and the Senior horse here has little or none?
If OP is buying this specifically as a 2’6” Hunter that DD can enjoy learning on and going to shows with an expectation of successfully getting around without endless frustration? Dont think its a great idea for Senior horse and young, novice rider. Rider that likely has big dreams that are easily dashed.
One other thing, find myself more frequently reminding posters on here that the trainer is a business person who needs clients to generate income. Getting this horse will generate many months of steady income training horse, lessons for DD and show fees. The trainer absolutely is not a neutral participant, there is always a conflict of interest.
Good, honest trainers consider all aspects and advise whats best for the client, especially easily frustrated young riders, Good, honest trainers know that a starting with a good, leased schoolmaster will generate less income short term but often lead to more income if the young rider stays in the sport and advances. that client will stay in the barn much longer stepping up in horsepower and provide a steady revenue stream for years.
Soooo…is this a good, honest trainer running a well thought out, client centered business? Does recommending an inexperienced Senior horse for inexperienced young rider work best over the long term for DD? Or short term to get that old horse off her books and money in trainer pocket right now regardless of DDs development as a rider both physically and emotionally?
Lease her a good, confidence building schoolmaster, that can be 16-18 years old and any size, shape or breed/type, with a track record safely over 2’6” Hunter courses. Don’t buy an at least 16 year old Greenie. For DDs sake, could break her heart.
On the papers thing, at least get his registration number and registered name spelled as it is on the papers, which can be researched, somebody on here can do that for you. My biggest fear with missing papers is age. DD will need months of multiple weekly lessons over months learning and the horse needing to jump hundreds of fences over those months. It may not be fair to a horse thats worked for 15 years (at least if he is actually older) to ask that of him. Its not a given he’ll physically be able to do it and stay sound anyway.
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Quick thoughts while trying to not sound too terribly offended…
- “western trained” does not equal QH.
- “western trained” does not equal halter or western pleasure.
- QH does not equal halter or western pleasure.
- QH does not equal tiny feet, or downhill, or fill-in-the-blank stereotype.
- QH does not equal clunking through anything taller than 4 inches.
It’s highly unlikely that this horse being looked at as a confidence builder is a current, or even flunked out, western pleasure or halter horse. It’s more likely that he is a recreational/ trail horse that was started and primarily ridden in a western saddle; ie kick to go, pull to stop, might neck rein but probably also direct reins. That’s just what I envision, not a spur-trained pleasure horse.
I think without more information about him it’s hard to tell if he would work as a confidence builder while still being green over fences. Those type of horses do exist. Coming from a strictly western all around back ground, I taught my first homebred hunter to jump whilst learning myself; under the guidance of a trainer of course, but she never put training rides on him. Even being a green horse, he was simply that saintly. This was a QH-heavy Paint horse.
On the topic of stereotypes (this thread just HAD to go there). While there are plenty of QHs that are just meh over fences, there are plenty of those in all breeds. Including, yes, warmbloods. But there are also a good few who are eye-poppingly good jumpers, have the step to play over the bigger sticks, and are drool-worthy movers because we place such an emphasis on quality of movement. Myself and quite a few other breeders do breed for a hunt seat horse that can go over fences as well. Oh and I would place a hefty bet that my current green fence horse has the same or better uphill build and movement of todays upper level warmblood hunter. Seriously, he’s the most uphill thing I’ve ever sat on, even though I breed for uphill hunter-types.
Sorry, I had a nerve that got hit. My bad, and yall may carry on…
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Western horses are bred and trained to carry their weight in the front part of their bodies. That is the opposite of what people want in an English horse for showing. — Yes, many horses can jump. But a western trained horse will have a hard time jumping in English form. And that will give your daughter bad basics. Look for a similar horse who has jumped in good form for English riding.
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